The role of sensory network dynamics in generating a motor program

Sensory input plays a major role in controlling motor responses during most behavioral tasks. The vestibular organs in the marine mollusk Clione, the statocysts, react to the external environment and continuously adjust the tail and wing motor neurons to keep the animal oriented vertically. However,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Neuroscience
Main Authors: Levi, Rafael, Varona, Pablo, Arshavsky, Yu I., Rabinovich, Mikhail I., Selverston, Allen I.
Other Authors: UAM. Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Neurocomputación Biológica (ING EPS-005)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Society of Neuroscience 2014
Subjects:
Clione limacina
Hunting behavior
Motor coordination
Motor program
Sensory organ
Spatiotemporal pattern
Statocyst
Informática
Eia
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/662667
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2249-05.2005
Description
Summary:Sensory input plays a major role in controlling motor responses during most behavioral tasks. The vestibular organs in the marine mollusk Clione, the statocysts, react to the external environment and continuously adjust the tail and wing motor neurons to keep the animal oriented vertically. However, we suggested previously that during hunting behavior, the intrinsic dynamics of the statocyst network produce a spatiotemporal pattern that may control the motor system independently of environmental cues. Once the response is triggered externally, the collective activation of the statocyst neurons produces a complex sequential signal. In the behavioral context of hunting, such network dynamics may be the main determinant of an intricate spatial behavior. Here, we show that (1) during fictive hunting, the population activity of the statocyst receptors is correlated positively with wing and tail motor output suggesting causality, (2) that fictive hunting can be evoked by electrical stimulation of the statocyst network, and (3) that removal of even a few individual statocyst receptors critically changes the fictive hunting motor pattern. These results indicate that the intrinsic dynamics of a sensory network, even without its normal cues, can organize a motor program vital for the survival of the animal. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant 7RO1-NS-38022, National Science Foundation Grant EIA-0130708, Fundación BBVA, and MEC BFI2003-07276.

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